Hawaiian Scion

The Descendants, by Kaui Hart Hemmings
I only heard of this book when I saw the trailer for the movie that it is based on (starring George Clooney!) so naturally I had to read it.  Matt King, scion of a powerful Hawaiian family, discovers that his wife is in a coma after a boating accident, and unlikely to live much longer.  He sets out to inform their friends and relatives, to transition to the hands-on parent that his two daughters need him to be, and to come to terms with his grief.  In the mean time, he learns that his wife had been having an affair.

I really liked this book - it was funny, with great dialog, but also sad, because every character is wounded in some way.  All of the parenting stuff rang true.  However, I just didn’t get why Matt, who seemed like an astute guy, was so enamored with his wife.  As he reminisces about her and their marriage, the picture he paints is not flattering.  She appeared to be a total bimbo and narcissist.  But she was “hot”, so I guess that’s it.